Editor’s Notes
Dear readers,
Welcome to The Trailer Brief! This is a biweekly newsletter celebrating the craft, culture, and people behind the movie marketing machine. As a member of this unique industry for the past 7 years, working at both creative and finishing agencies, I have a growing appreciation for the pioneers of the format and the up-and-comers who continue to push it forward.
We’re at a pivotal moment in the history of our industry. The OG’s of trailer editing are still working, but nearing retirement. The event horizon of AI’s influence is coming into focus. Studio consolidation and streaming schedules continue to cause job insecurity and a general sense of uneasiness in Hollywood. The baton is being passed to an extremely talented pool of young, trailer-first editors and producers whose careers were inspired by the people they now work beside. The goal of this newsletter is to document and preserve this history as it happens, as well as connect and strengthen the trailer community.
A couple times a month, we’ll share some of the stand-out trailers that were released, revisit iconic trailers of the past, and introduce you to some of the people around town who I admire. We’ll also share some other content we’re inspired by, and new tools that have impressed and improved our workflows. Additionally, we’ll keep our ear to the ground and share news articles we think impact our little world.
Thank you for reading. I really hope you enjoy this first edition of The Trailer Brief!
Creative Review
A round-up and analysis of some cool trailers that were recently released.
A good teaser makes you ask more questions than it answers and – wow, does this fall into that category. As one YouTube commenter says “I know nothing and still wanna see it badly.”
The rapid fire edits punctuated by minimal sound design, making the most of diegetic SFX capped off with a cue from the film score, nails the tone of the film. The dolly into the car before setting off on the wild ride really sucks the viewer in, and the O’Shea stop-down triggers a genuine LOL moment. The teaser leans heavily into genre over story, which isn’t a novel concept, but one that is executed very well in this case. The audience knows exactly what they’ll get with the cost of admission: comedic chaos.
IFC cuts through the noise with this teaser that promises an auteur director finding his footing supported by a cast that checks all the boxes. I expect a story-driven trailer will be released closer to the film’s release, answering the questions raised by the teaser.
Amazon’s “choose your own adventure” release of Spider-Noir creates a very unique marketing environment. For probably the first time ever, a studio is releasing the same trailer in both Black & White and Color. It’s a bold strategy, and one that’s a treat for trailer fans. We can argue over which format is better, but, the truth is, both Black & White and Color look cool as hell. At the time of writing, each trailer has racked up ~ 6 million views on YouTube.
This pair of trailers pays proper tribute to both the noir and superhero genres. It alludes to the comics while setting up the mystery at the heart of the series.
The heartbeat of the trailer is the music track. The custom remix of “Axolotl” by The Veils is not something anyone could have seen coming, but suits the nightmarish imagery of Man-Spider and the human experiments surrounding Spider-Noir’s origin. The band performed the song in an episode of the surrealist mystery horror drama “Twin Peaks” in 2017, making it’s inclusion in this mystery horror trailer no coincidence.
While I don’t expect B+W & Color trailer releases to catch on, I hope the industry move towards deep cut music tracks, rather than the needledrop trailerizations that have dominated for the last 15 years.
A24 wins over web-series fans by capturing the essence of the source material. Working on a big budget adaptation of existing IP can be a tall order. Fandoms have high expectations and are quick to defend the content they love. By using a cue from the original web series and showcasing the found footage aspect of the film, this trailer successfully captures the heart of the original fanbase.
This trailer does so many things well. The sound design is perfectly haunting, and each element has a chance to shine in the mix. I love the simple GFX look, radiating from the fluorescent yellow lights in the backroom. The rest of the visuals are an absurd treat, adding layers of intrigue.
Another great thing about this trailer is that it doesn’t leave new viewers behind. There is a captivating hook at the beginning and the rising tension pushes the piece forward. Aside from it’s length, it feels more like a teaser than a trailer by sitting comfortably in suspense. I’m hoping this is indicative of a larger shift in the industry, where style and substance carry equal weight and the audience is expected to participate.
This trailer knew exactly what it needed to be. It’s peak fan service, while introducing a new audience to the world of Street Fighter.
The structure leans towards two distinct tonal movements. The Tupac cue is a nice introduction into the world, with the “I’m a straight fighter” vocal offering a see-say that earns a solid chuckle. The 4 Non Blondes custom mixed with the karaoke scene creates a great backdrop for the mayhem to occur, while also setting the scene in 1993, the year the song was released. The song evades expectations for the action genre, making it a fun and memorable choice.
The amount of actual fight moves and SFX from the video game is enough to sell tickets to most casual Street Fighter gamers. The “Perfect!” callout to hammer on the CTA is hard not to love. The GFX design feels right at home beside the iconic Street Fighter logo.
This trailer, with all of the cameos and homages to the game, solidified Street Fighter as the “fun” arcade fighter-inspired movie coming out this year. With all of the other video game shows and films coming out in recent years, especially Mortal Kombat II, Street Fighter was able to separate itself. As one YouTube commenter puts perfectly, this trailer “feels proud to be Street Fighter.” It seems important to show that this new franchise doesn’t take itself too seriously. Dropping the trailer right before their CinemaCon presentation was a great way of showing the fans that this movie is for them, and indicate to the theater owners that this is something people are excited about.
Trailer Time Machine
A breakdown of an iconic trailer from the past.
It’s hard to talk about the modern trailer industry without acknowledging the impact of Mark Woollen and the trailer for The Social Network, making it one of the more predictable choices for our first edition. With “The Social Reckoning” trailer debuting exclusively at CinemaCon last month, it seems as relevant as ever.
The Challenge
When the movie was announced in 2009, nobody wanted a Facebook movie. At best, people were skeptical that a movie about a tech startup would be engaging. At worst, the concept was called “the worst idea in the history of television.” The movie slate for 2010 was stacked with all-time blockbusters such as Avatar, Iron Man 2, and Inception. Fincher’s tech drama was laughed off by the pop culture reporters as a boring biopic about the tech nerds. Even after the one minute Teaser was released, the Atlantic still reported that the movie “would probably be boring.”
The Spot
Propelled by a haunting cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” by the Belgian girls’ choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers, the spot opens with a montage of mundane Facebook images and interfaces. The shots chosen showcase the idyllic side of Facebook that are weirdly melancholic when paired with the cue. They eventually resolve with the profile picture of Mark Zuckerberg, portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg.
The second act of the trailer immerses the audience in Harvard 2003 and the creation of Facebook. It efficiently answers the “who, what, and why?” questions that were surrounding the film but, more importantly, it answers “why should anyone care about this?” In 50 seconds, we are introduced to all of the major players and their motives and see Mark turn from an outcast with an interesting idea to a greedy creep ready to ruin the only real friendships he had.
The final third kicks off with one of the greatest copy runs in history, the Neil Kellerhouse gem: “You don’t get to 500 million friends // without making a few enemies.” The slow burn ignites in this climax as the music continues to build, and you see Mark enjoying the fruits of his labor before it all comes crashing down. It fades to black as Mark is once again an outcast, outside of a party and looking in.
The trailer ultimately ends with Mark in a boardroom, boastful and requesting recognition from the Harvard Board for breaking security measures. The last lines seem to be pointed at the critical reception to the film. “I don’t understand.” “Which part?”
The Reaction
The trailer managed to change the public perception of the film. Media outlets started backpedalling. Mashable called it “pretty brilliant" and Vulture said that the trailer “gave the sense that director David Fincher has some really grand ambitions with this project.” The trailer gave the project the credibility that it needed.
The Trailer won the Grand Key Art award at the 2011 Key Art Awards (now known as the Clios) and “Best In Show” at the 2011 Golden Trailer Awards.
The film would go on to make $224.9 million in the global box office
The Legacy
While it may not have been the very first to do it, this trailer is widely credited for popularizing an industry trend that we’re still seeing today, 16 years later. Trailerized covers of pop songs are as prevalent today as they were the year following this release.
It remains in the conversation of best trailers ever, both for its stylistic innovations and it’s success as a piece of marketing. Countless articles have been written celebrating it’s influence in the trailer industry.
Across the Trades
A trailer-spin on the news around town.
Event season rolls on, with in-room exclusive trailers dominating Caesar’s Palace at this year’s CinemaCon.
Studios continue, especially post-Covid, using CinemaCon to shape the early narrative around upcoming releases by debuting trailers built for theater owners and reporters rather than consumer audiences. Trailers are functioning less as marketing materials, and more as confidence signals to internal stakeholders. Cuts are transforming to prove scale, tone and theatrical viability before public rollout.
CinemaCon is increasingly becoming where trailer campaigns begin, not where they end. We can expect this trend to continue as we get into Upfronts season.
Also at CinemaCon, Sony CEO Tom Rothman urges theater owners to play less trailers and pre-show advertisements: “Get off the ad crack.”
Top marketing executives at the Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit emphasize that younger audiences are hungry for nostalgia. They’re consuming content rooted in the pre-smartphone days, watching network-like procedural TV programs, and returning to the movie theaters as social events.
This explains the huge increase we’ve seen lately in content based in the 90’s and early 2000’s, especially based on historical events, existing IP and video games.
In response to Rothman’s condemnation of pre-roll advertising, the panel defended the “magical” experience of viewing a trailer in theaters versus online.
Theater-specific trailers, especially those pointed at a younger demographic, may become more popular, as ticket-sales increase.
The AI race continues, as Avid and Adobe announce partnerships with Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude, respectively.
Avid’s announcement focuses on the agentic functions of the platform, labeling it as a tool to “query content using natural language… [match] visual styles, [identify] emotional cues in raw footage, and [streamline] metadata logging.”
Adobe’s announcement primarily highlights Adobe Firefly’s AI Assistant, which will be able to perform a number of creative and organizational tasks across the suite of Adobe applications. Anthropic’s announcement focuses on the support side of their partnership.
As workflows become more automated, client timeline expectations are likely to change. A competitive advantage will be found in how agencies can leverage new tools to speed up creative processes.
Popularity of micro-dramas, vertical feature-length films released in 1-2 minute installments, continues to rise. Micro-dramas are built for addiction and efficiency, taking advantage of shorter audience attention spans with constant cliffhangers and fast-paced storytelling.
Micro-dramas signal a broader shift in entertainment, towards mobile-first, highly consumable content.
In other reporting, late last year, Fox invested in vertical video company Holywater, agreeing to create more than 200 vertical titles over the next two years. Netflix and Disney both launched vertical video on their mobile platforms earlier this year.
Don’t expect vertical to disappear anytime soon. If anything, trailers for vertical-first titles could be coming through the door sooner than you think (if they haven’t already).
The Button
Closing remarks.
Thank you for reading the first edition of the Trailer Brief!
If you enjoyed it, we hope you will subscribe to the email list. If you didn’t, feel free to let us know where we can improve by either replying to this email or sending a message to [email protected].
Similarly, if you would like to contribute as a writer or share something you worked on this month that you’re proud of, please send it our way!
We want everyone to feel seen and celebrated, not ranked and evaluated. Our breakdowns of the trailers are intended to highlight the creative decisions involved and identify industry trends as they emerge.
Look out for the second edition in two weeks from now, with more trailer spotlights and news, and be sure to check back in next month where we’ll be sharing a Q+A with an old friend.
All of the information shared in this newsletter is publicly available. All of the thoughts, insights, and opinions presented in this newsletter belong solely to the individual writers and editors of the Trailer Brief, and do not necessarily reflect the views of their full-time employers.